Sunday, September 15, 2013

The shockingly short, strangely cool summer of 2013 was a wildly busy one and it was riddled with an overabundance of fabulous food that I sadly just didn’t have the time to keep up with writing about. This is a quick look at some of the summer’s best random bites:

I frankly never get enough sushi. KC has a plethora of good sushi and I have a lot more ground to cover in this category, but one little Liberty restaurant we enjoyed was Wasabi Sushi. This unassuming little strip mall joint served up some fine sushi such as the Wasabi roll with tempura salmon, cream cheese and spicy crab or the 007 Roll with spicy tuna, seaweed, cream cheese and eel sauce. It was quite the delicious way to kick off an afternoon at Barn Players Theater watching our friend Dennis play Wardell in a hilarious production of Sordid Lives.

My last trip back to my West Virginian hometown was an embarrassment of culinary riches largely

centered on the home of my friends Kaki and JB and their business The Greenhouse. I covered the pure joy that was Music by the Lake with its repast of grilled green tomatoes and Dipper D tribute burgers and of course, Dotte’s birthday celebration. Among the many other mouth-watering munchies of that visit were amazing stuffed burgers, oysters grilled on a salt block, grilled stuffed avocados and jalapenos, Ron’s killer crab-stuffed mushrooms and some rock ‘em, sock ‘em bacon-wrapped tater tots. All that Abicht’s Landing goodness plus a lovely Lebanese lunch at Cham’s with the bestie that included the addictive Foul M Damas (fava beans with lemon and garlic) and the Sfiha (flattened bread dough topped with lean ground beef, tomatoes and onions). So much tasty hometown goodness,,,can’t wait to see what the return trip in November brings.

It wouldn’t be summer without a lake trip with the K-Man’s family

and these family gatherings are always rife with great bites. Picture perfect weather and an afternoon of swimming with the kids were highlights of the weekend but these days were also dotted with delectables like French potato salad, Dave’s Reuben Calzone of Awesomeness and Sierra and Tanner’s wonderful dessert pizza with fresh strawberries and kiwi. Summer just feels so much better at the lake especially when armed with Tecate and margaritas at the new tiki bar on the dock.

One particular night was a perfectly lovely summer evening at the idyllic summer home of our friends the Calahans. Stacy and Chris and their fantastic brood hosted a wonderful evening for us and gave us a taste of their unique family life. Their wonderful kid-centric home was an absolute kick from the “monkey steps” (built so you have to climb up on all fours) up to the kid’s attic hideaway to their crazy-cool slide back to the kitchen. We sipped lavender cocktails while strolling through the lavender fields behind the garage and munched on grilled brats, Daphne’s creamy cucumber salad and Kevin’s bruschetta dip. The youthful exuberance on this property is infectious: soon there were tractors and four-wheelers abuzz on the grounds; Shawna was creating giant bubbles and Kevin was fire-spinning. Those kids have an enviable life…I was ready to move in!

There was so much more food shrapnel throughout the summer like Jim’s tiramisu and Keith’s farmer’s market fresh peach and blueberry cobbler and too blessedly much to keep with. But blur that it was, the season was a beautiful and blessed one so raise a handy to Summer 2013!